


Only By Speaking

by punk_rock_yuppie



Category: Spider-Man (Video Games 2018-2020)
Genre: Acceptance, Established Relationship, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Future Fic, Gen, M/M, Post-Game, Sweet, coming out fic, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: Aaron is out of prison and it's time for him to meet Miles' boyfriend.
Relationships: Aaron Davis & Miles Morales, Ganke Lee/Miles Morales
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Only By Speaking

**Author's Note:**

> was thinking about aaron meeting ganke as miles' boyfriend instead of just as his friend, and this happened! ended up a little more focused on aaron and miles but i'm not mad about it. 
> 
> big thanks to han for the beta as always!

“Are you sure I should be here for this?” Ganke murmurs. 

Miles turns to him. “Yeah, man. You’re family. This is a family get together.”

Ganke still looks uncomfortable. “This is a party welcoming home your uncle,” he says. “I’ve only met him once.”

Miles frowns. “Yeah, but you’re important to me, and it’s important to me that you’re here, dude. Besides, when you met him…” Miles’ cheeks heat at the memory, the street fair before his mother’s speech. “We weren’t dating then.”

“The fact that we’re dating now is actually what makes me _more_ nervous,” Ganke mutters. 

Miles doesn’t get a chance to reply, though, because the doorknob is turning and his mom’s and uncle’s voices are drifting into the apartment. Gloria shushes everyone, even though it’s not really a _surprise_ party exactly. Even so, everyone falls quiet as the door swings open; as Aaron steps into the apartment, there’s disjointed and cacophonous cries of “Surprise!” Rio follows at Aaron’s heels, already laughing.

Miles swallows nervously. He hasn’t seen his uncle in a few months, and only a handful of times over the last year and a half before that. Aaron didn’t like Miles visiting him in prison, and Miles wasn’t super fond of the process either. He liked seeing his uncle, but he’s realizing now that the dim lighting of the visiting room hid the bags under his uncle’s eyes, the lines etched further into his face than when he went in. It’s only been a year, but suddenly it feels like so much longer. 

Miles leaves Ganke’s side without really thinking about it and throws himself at his uncle. Aaron’s arms wrap around him and hold him tight. Miles comes up past Aaron’s shoulder now, something he comments on immediately. Ruffling Miles’ hair, Aaron says, “You look just like your dad.”

Miles coughs around the sudden lump in his throat. “Missed you, Unc.” 

“Missed you too, kid.” The hug breaks but Miles doesn’t go far; neither does Rio, hovering at Aaron’s side as they meander further into the apartment. Aaron stops and Rio introduces him to people he doesn’t know like Steff, lets him get reacquainted with Gloria and other people Miles didn’t realize he knew. It’s not a large crowd and Miles knows some people are only staying long enough to chat with Aaron quickly before they have to go. Despite that, it feels a little suffocating being in the midst of all the chatter, so Miles backs out and finds Ganke loitering near the front door.

“Not thinking of bailing, are you?”

Ganke pulls a guilty face. “No,” he says, then, “kinda.” 

“Dude, what’s up?” Miles looks back at his family but Aaron and his mom are thoroughly wrapped up in a conversation with Teo. Miles doesn’t feel bad herding his boyfriend toward his bedroom, shutting the door gently behind them. “You’re being really weird.”

“I’m not!” Ganke says, even though he totally is. After a beat of incredulous silence from Miles, Ganke caves. “I dunno, it’s just...it’s weird.”

“Why?”

Ganke bites his bottom lip and looks away from Miles. He fiddles with the hem of his sweater, shuffling his feet. “Your uncle just...means so much to you. And it’s different than with your mom because I knew your mom before we started dating, so it wasn’t really a, like, _meet the parents_ kinda thing.”

“And this is?” Miles asks, laughter in his voice. He loves Aaron, looks up to him, he’s excited for him and Ganke to get to know each other—but he didn’t really consider it a meet the parents situation. He just saw it as bringing Ganke into another facet of his life: getting to know Aaron as an uncle, not as the Prowler. 

“Yeah!” Ganke throws his arms in the air, full of nervous energy. “He’s intimidating and he’s tall and the most I know about him is that he’s a masterclass thief who tried to lock you up!”

“For my own safety,” Miles points out, even though the whole kidnapping thing still annoys him too. “Ganke, I promise, it’ll be fine. He’s gonna love you, because _I_ love you.” 

All of the fight seems to go out of Ganke like an abruptly popped balloon. “You know how I get when you say that.”

Grinning, Miles crosses the length of his bedroom to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around Ganke’s shoulders. “I love you,” he murmurs, brushing his nose against Ganke’s. “I love you so much, n’my uncle is gonna think you’re great. You _are_ great.”

Ganke rolls his eyes but the blush on his cheeks belies how much he likes the attention. “Dude,” he says admonishingly. 

Miles takes that as an invitation to kiss him. Ganke’s hands find his hips easily and tug him a little closer. Miles can feel the tension leave his boyfriend’s body as they kiss, long and lazy and leisurely. In the back of his mind, Miles knows they need to get back to the party—especially because he’s starving, and doesn’t want to miss out on the pizza—but he’s reluctant to stop kissing. 

Ganke hums into his mouth as his hands slip under Miles’ shirt, just for that skin-on-skin contact. His fingertips graze Miles’ side and he lets out a laugh at the sensation, breaking the kiss. Eyes closed in bliss, Miles murmurs, “we should get back.”

He opens his eyes and watches as Ganke surfaces from the haze kissing put him in; it’s an addictive sight, the way his eyes flutter and his cheeks are still warm with a blush. Miles is content to ogle Ganke for a little while longer; in fact, he’s so caught up in it that he doesn’t hear his bedroom doorknob turning or his uncle stepping into the room.

“Woah,” Aaron half-shouts behind them. It’s not an angry yell, just surprised, but Ganke and Miles leap apart anyway. Ganke trips over his duffle bag on the floor and Miles shoots a web at him to keep him from toppling over entirely. He manages to balance Ganke enough that he only falls against the windowsill with a soft _oof_ , and then Miles is standing in the middle of the room between his boyfriend and his uncle.

“Hey, Unc,” Miles says. He’s painfully aware of the redness on his cheeks. “Haven’t you heard of knocking?”

Aaron quirks an eyebrow up at him, arms crossed. “My bad,” he says. “Couple’a people cleared out, saved you some pizza.” 

“Hell yeah,” Miles says just as his stomach starts to rumble. “Any of the chicken bacon ranch left?”

“Your ma said that’s his favorite,” Aaron replies with a nod at Ganke. “Ganke, right?”

Ganke clears his throat. “Yeah.” 

Aaron looks Ganke up and down. “So,” he starts, a drawl. “How long has this been going on?”

Miles rubs at the back of his neck. “Not too long after the whole Nuform thing.” 

He didn’t mean to _ not  _ tell Aaron about it, but when he first went to prison their communications were kind of sporadic. Once they had gotten more consistent with their calls and later their visits, Miles just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. He knows his uncle loves him though, and he’s never been worried about what he’d say; it’s just hard to imagine coming out over a ten-cents-a-minute phone call. 

“I told you to keep him out of trouble,” Aaron says, “how’s that going?”

Ganke blinks, eyes wide. “As well as it can be. I can only yell at him over comms so much.”

Aaron grins, one corner of his mouth curling up. “That’s all you can do with a guy like him.” Aaron walks further into the room and loops an arm over Miles’ shoulders, pulling him into a half-hearted noogie. “Let’s go get some pizza, huh?” He holds out his other arm until Ganke moves under it, then he steers both boys out of the bedroom. Aaron lets go of them as they hit the hallway, and Miles glances at Ganke with a grin. 

“Told you it’d be fine.”

Ganke rolls his eyes. “Smug isn’t a good look on you.”

* * *

Miles groans and rolls out of bed, rubbing at one eye. It’s dark, the only light in his room coming from the moon outside. Ganke is snoring on the bed, phone clutched in his hand from when he fell asleep messing around on it. Miles reaches over and plucks the phone from his hand and sets it on the bedside table instead. He runs a hand through Ganke’s hair before remembering the reason he got out of bed in the first place: he’s  _thirsty._

It isn’t until he sees a long shadow stretching across the living room that he remembers Aaron decided to stay the night. He peers around the corner into the kitchen to see his uncle leaning against the counter, a glass of water in one hand and his phone in the other. 

“Sup, kid,” Aaron greets quietly. 

Miles grins and meanders into the kitchen. He grabs a glass and gets some water from the tap, leaning against the counter by his uncle. “Can’t sleep?”

Aaron smiles ruefully. “Nah. Happens when you get old.”

Miles shakes his head. “You’re not that old.” He drains his glass and refills it; he’s halfway through that when he realizes Aaron is just staring at him, eyes narrow. “What?”

“Is that why you didn’t tell me?” Aaron asks. “Did you think I wouldn’t understand?” The _because I’m old_ goes unsaid. 

It takes Miles’ brain a minute to catch up. “What? No!” He claps a hand over his mouth after his outburst, glancing down the hall toward his mom’s room. “No, man, no way.”

Aaron doesn’t look like he believes him. He doesn’t say anything, though, leaving Miles to fill the silence.

“It was just...I didn’t know how to tell you over the phone, and I didn’t really wanna tell you during visitations cuz that was, y’know, kinda awkward.” Miles looks away guiltily. Saying it aloud now, he thinks maybe he _was_ a little afraid that Aaron might not react as well as he’d hoped. Some latent, unfounded fear buried so deep inside Miles’ head he didn’t even know it was there. “I didn’t really think you’d care, but it was just...just easier to wait.”

“I care.” Aaron sets his glass aside.

Miles shakes his head. “No, I know, I mean. Like. I knew you wouldn’t react badly. I didn’t think you’d flip out or anything.” Miles shrugs. “Sorry you walked in on us, though. That wasn’t how I meant for you to find out.” 

Aaron stares at him. “You two are cute,” he says eventually. “He seems nice.” 

Aaron and Ganke had gotten along fine for the rest of the party, even if Ganke still seemed a little embarrassed about getting caught. Aaron had been suitably impressed by Ganke’s smarts, and had even asked to see _Speed Nonagon_ , which had launched Ganke into a full-blown ramble. 

“He is,” Miles says as he ducks his head. “He’s great.” 

“You love him?” Aaron asks. 

Miles nods. “I do. And he loves me.” When he looks over at his uncle, he’s pleased to see him smiling. 

“Thank you for telling me, Miles,” Aaron says after a moment of quiet. He sounds softer, more vulnerable than Miles has ever heard him. “Sorry I wasn’t around sooner.”

Miles leaves his glass on the counter and moves toward Aaron instead. He hugs him tight. “You’re here now.” 

Aaron hugs him back. “Yeah.” He doesn’t speak again until after the hug breaks; he actually waits until Miles is sipping at his water again to ask, “Do I need to give Ganke a shovel talk?”

When Miles chokes on his sip, Aaron just laughs. 


End file.
